Ascending: rising or increasing to higher levels, values, or degrees
Butterflies: The change from caterpillar though to the chrysalis and emergence as a butterfly is the greatest change in the animal world. It symbolises significant change in the course of one’s life, personality or way of thinking.
Putting them together brings us on an upwards journey of change and transformation, isn't that what we all strive for?

Thursday, May 13, 2010

This giveaway is now CLOSED. Thanks so much to our wonderful sponsor Luminique! We look forward to working with you again! The winner is Terri142. Remember: There are great giveaways active on the upper right hand side of the page!

I am a candle lover, and over the years I've purchased and received a fair share as gifts. Candles are used in different ways for many different moments. They light our birthday cakes, and mark milestones. They accompany us during a warm bath. They are left near the windows to help someone find their way home safely. They are lit in rememberance. They are lit to send our prayers to the heavens. They are used for scent to create a mood.

Spas use them to help create a relaxing environment, and so do we at home. As much as I do love them, if you are on the receiving end of them often, they can become a bit boring after awhile.

Where can you find a candle gift that is eco friendly, sophisticated and most importantly PERSONAL? If a CUSTOM candle with an intention is what you seek with a price that will not break the bank yet will still very much impress, look no furthur than Luminique! They offer a very simple, fun 5 step process to creating a gift you will be delighted to receive for your home (or altar, or meditation space) and that friends and family would be very touched to receive from you.

About Luminique:

Lumnique gives new meaning to the experience of giving and receiving a beautifully crafted candle. Unlike conventional, off-the-shelf candles, Lumnique's soy candles are highly personalized and exceptionally thoughtful. Each custom-designed by the customer especially for the unique personality and lifestyle of the recipient.

Each Lumnique personalized candle is manufactured using a clean-burning soy candle wax blend and cotton wick, environmentally friendly color dyes, and natural essential fragrance oils that retain their scent while the candle burns. We do not house any premade candles in our inventory. All of our soy wax candles are created and poured individually after an order is placed.

Creating your Candle - My Experience!

Step 1 - When I sat down to design my candle, I had a lot on my mind. The year had already begun and thoughts of where I was at that particular point, where I wanted to be and the possibilities the year contained all played in my mind. Step 1 in designing the candle asks you to pick an intention. And this shouldn't be taken lightly whether this is for yourself or a gift. While there were various 'intentions' that spoke directly to me, I chose 'New Beginings' because that is what I want to create. I want to welcome new experiences both personally and professionally in my life and this selection is meant to 'inspire positive feelings about change and welcome a new direction'. Perfect!

Step 2 - Select a color. I read through them all, and again various color choices appealed to me for different reasons including the 'wine' color, but ultimately I chose 'Red' which is 'Fire' - Representative of excitement; energy; strength; health; vitality; courage; power and willpower; enthusiasm; overcoming obstacles; passion; speed; strength; all elements of love throughout your life'. This greatly appealed to me because I wanted to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way to the 'New Begining' that I seek for myself. It's amazing how well both the 'intention' (Step 1) and 'color choice' (step 2) tied in to my particular wants and needs! I will admit I couldn't help but read every option with great care and enthusiasm. I haven't found myself this excited about personalizing a gift in quite awhile!

Step 3 - This is a fun step, this is where you pick your fragrance preference. There are a ton of scents to choose from, I selected 'Frankincense and Myrrh - This warm, woody, balsamic aroma blends the mystical resins of frankincense and myrrh.' - It's a personal favorite of mine and I was very excited to see it included among the options!

Step 4 - Personalize Your Candle - This is where you say who it is to and from and enter a personal message. This will appear in the customized certificate that is included in the box.

Each candle is delivered in a unique Lumnique gift box that includes the Candle, a Lumnique Matchbox and the Customized Certificate.

Price: $30

I received the Deluxe Gift Set and found the packaging to be impressive, this is certainly the option I will choose when giving this set as a gift!

When you light this candle, it's a very different experience, the customized certificate is a visual reminder of the intentions behind the candle, you literally feel like you are lighting the way to something. That you are creating something you want for self, in my case it is new beginings, you may choose to create an entirely different intention for yourself (like abundance for example!), but the scent transports you, and between the scent, the packaging, and the certificate reminding you of the intention, it's a total sensory delight on a variety of levels. I can tell you no other candle out there can offer you this expeience!

If candles are a favorite signature gift of yours to give, then UPGRADE immediately, because you truly will be remembered for giving this gift! And if you are lucky enough to be on the receiving end of this gift you will remember it always!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - WIN IT! - Ascending Butterfly and our friends at Luminique would like to provide one lucky winner with the opportunity to win the Deluxe Gift Set! (ARV $35)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - How to Win: (1) You must be a PUBLIC follower of Ascending Butterfly to be eligible for this and all giveaways. Indicate in your entry that you follow (if your 'comment name/user id' differs from your profile id, please let me know what name you follow under) and (2) Visit Luminique- and customize a candle! Then come back here and tell us your intention, color, and scent choice, as your comment entry! You will not be ordering at this time, only following the first three steps in the process and sharing them here for your main entry. (3) You must also leave your email address somewhere in your comment. (You can format it this way for security, example: ascendingbutterfly AT mail host DOT com, If it is visible in your profile, just say so, that's OK!). Please follow the easy 1, 2, 3 steps to winning! This giveaway is open to USA residents who are 18 years of age or older.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Please follow directions or you will be disqualified! All comments are moderated, they may not appear on the site right away (comments like "I want this" or "I want to win" will not be entered). You have from Tuesday, May 13, 2010 until Tuesday, May 27, 2010 at 03:00 PM (EST) to comment and be entered for a chance to win. You will have 48 hours to confirm if we do not hear from you we will be forced to move on to an alternate. (We only notify winners DIRECTLY via email, so if your profile or your comment does not have an email address your entry will not be processed.)

EXTRA CREDIT:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Blog about this giveaway, linking to this giveaway post. Leave the URL in a comment

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Grab our Button and put it on your Blog. Leave the URL where we can see it in a comment (if you already have our button, just let us know, you will still get extra credit! If we cannot see the button we will not process this extra credit.)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow/Like Luminique Personalized Scented Candles on Facebook HERE (You will get the extra credit for following/Liking them, but if you would also like to write on their wall Ascending Butterfly sent you it is not required but it would be great!)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Join Ascending Butterfly's Community Group (with real time chat) NOTE: We switched from NING to Spruz, if you were a member of our old group you'll need to switch for this credit to count HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Subscribe to receive Ascending Butterfly emails using our Feedburner widget on the upper right hand side of the page below the follower thumbnail pictures! (If you are already a subscriber you will still receive extra credit!)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Please Vote, Ascending Butterfly is a nominee for the Bloggers Choice ’10 Awards in the ‘Best Blog About Stuff’ Category - http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/ Where it reads total votes, there is a yellow box that reads 'Vote' Press there to vote, you must be logged in to see the number increase/vote registered. You can also vote directly using the button located on our home page and below:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Please vote for my outfit 'springtime nyc' @ Macy's Fashion director Giveaway. You can vote for me and also enter to win a $500 Macys Gift Certificate too by creating a styleboard of your own HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Make a purchase from Luminique anytime between 5/13 - 5/25 and receive 10 extra entries. (you will need to email us a copy of your invoice as proof. Yes, you can cross off method of payment information!)

NOTE: Readers have asked us to make entering the contests and giveaways, faster and easier. Your wish is our command! We have moved our 'Today's Butterfly - Featured Site(s) of the day, which is where we host our giveaways, to the upper right hand side of the page. It will be located here from now on to make entering the giveaways faster and easier. Keep the suggestions coming, remember we also have a community group page with real time chat, you can give us your comments and suggestions in REAL time, how cool is that?

NOTE 2: Twitter followers: please remember you must also follow Ascending Butterfly using Google friends connect on the upper right hand side of the page for your entries to be processed. And remember if your profile does not have an email and you don't leave your email in your entry, we will not accept your entry. Make sure your entry or your profile have your email address!

Just a helpful Reminder: How to Follow A Blog Publicly Using Google Friends Connect:

Please look to the upper right hand side, where the follower pictures are. (Note the number of followers before you start this process)

1) press the follow button - the google pop up wizard will open, this is not an ad and your pop up blocker will not block it

2) tick the option that reads 'follow this blog publicly' once that button is selected, hit follow again - it should now read 'you are now following'

3) if the follower count went up you know you did it succesfully, if your profile has a picture, that picture will be the first one on the left side. If your profile doesn't have one, it should still be searchable on the members list. (Remember, following a blog, does NOT subscribe you to receive emails, you have to subscribe separately to do that, you will not receive emails for following)

Are you getting the dreaded 'Your Entry Can't Be Processed' message when leaving an entry or comment? Before hitting enter, highlight your comment and COPY it. If you get that message after hitting enter and your comment is still there, just ignore the message and hit enter again, then you will get a screen with a captcha code, enter the captcha code, then submit and VOILA. If after you hit the submit button the first time, you get the dreaded message and the comment 'disappeared' no worries, that's why I asked you to copy it in the first step. Paste it back in and submit again. This has worked for me when comment boxes have glitched on me, and I hope it helps you too!

FTC Disclosure Info for this Giveaway: This is not a paid insertion. This is a non-compensated post and all opinions regarding the products are expressly my own experiences. I was provided product to review and for the giveaway. The sponsor is fulfilling directly to prize winner, this in no way influenced my opinion of the product. Once a winner is selected and their information has been forwarded to the sponsor, the responsibility of prize fulfillment rests with the sponsor.

Following Luminique on Facebook and told them Ascending butterfly sent me here - http://www.facebook.com/lumnique.candles.page?v=wall#!/posted.php?id=372974948852&share_id=125269057500991&comments=1#s125269057500991

About Me:

Ascending Butterfly is a LIFESTYLE Blog. While it's Founder/Editor is in full possession of a Uterus, she doesn't choose to use it, keep that in mind before hitting send on your next pitch. We focus on Travel, Spirits, All things Foodie, Photography, Beauty, Fashion, Eco Friendly, with a mind, body,and soul approach to wellness and well-being.